Tag Archives: Heritage

Saturday in Huntington Beach with Hope ~

My brother Leonard, his wife Mandy and their 7 month old daughter Hope paid us a surprise visit from Dallas the last few days. Leonard had to travel to Southern California for business so Mandy and Hope joined him for the weekend.

 

Leonard is my baby brother, Lana G’s twin. He’s been married to Mandy for 2 years now and they were blessed with sweet little Hope in January of this year.

 

When my family gets together there is a lot of everything. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of plates, lots of talk and lots of laughter. We generally meet up at my sister Vera’s house in Huntington Beach because her and her husband Nick have the gift of making lots of food. We joke around about what 3 meats they will be preparing this time. The rest of us bring something to accompany all the meat they prepare. This time we had ribs, chuck roast, pineapple chicken, roasted chicken, spaghetti and meat sauce. My brother Tim and his wife Letty were all dressed up because they were headed to a wedding from our get-together. I don’t know why I had to explain that except for they are so dressed up compared to the rest of us.

 

Hope finally woke up and she just couldn’t take her eyes off of Jack. Jackson is my niece Michelle and Ryan’s 3 year old son. Michelle’s a blogger too and you’ll catch her in some of my photos with her camera in hand. Her blog is “Wait for It”

 

Some fun with Sweet Potatoes. Yes people there are going to be lots and lots of photos of Hope. I had to get my 4 hour fix before I see her again at Christmas.

 

After we stuffed ourselves with all that meat and salads and dessert we decided a walk down to the beach was in order. That’s the other great thing about Nick and Vera’s, it’s just a very short stroll to Huntington City Beach.

 

 

On our walk we met up with more guests for the evening and when we returned there was a gift for Hope. It was so stinkin sweet to watch her pat her Pooh Bear and give him loves.

 

We are so happy that our huge family does not overwhelm Hope. She seems to be able to relax with all of us. Did you catch Michelle with her camera?

 

Jackson entertained us with his dancing skills. He seems to be doing well with not having all the attention on him when Hope’s around.

 

Hope really lights up and kicks her feet when her Dzeda (grandfather) pays attention to her and he loves to entertain her. She loves her baba (grandmother). Aunt Kathy is great too. Now look at that expression on daddy and Hope’s face…hmmm.

Thanks Nick and Vera for opening your home for another fun get together.

Here’s the verse that Leonard and Mandy chose for Hope’s Baby Announcement ~

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, Therefore I have Hope in Him.”

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

Vintage Thingies Thursdays ~

Boy these weeks fly by. It’s time for some more vintage at Confessions of an Apron Queen so I’m showing another of my vintage tablecloths passed down from Verna, Dear’s mother. Even her name is vintage…

I decided to include this collage so that you can see all the bunches of fruit on the cloth.

 

For more vintage from around the blogs visit the Apron Queen.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

Fabulous Flag Flying Fourth

I saw this great blogathon idea for the 4th at  Ivory Spring and am joining in at  Kari and Kijsa‘s blog through the 4th of July. They say…”The time has come…to lift our flags high…to honor those who helped to create this incredible country we live in and celebrate the freedom we treasure. These are freedoms that have been valiantly fought for, defended and upheld to this very day…so in honor of our Grand Old Flag, and all she stands for, let’s fly our flags high!!”

 

My parents escaped out of Russian into Iran in the 30’s.  Shortly after WWII they and my oldest sister immigrated to the USA from Iran. We are very thankful to God for leading them here. We have been blessed to live in this great country and to be raised and raise our children here. When my parents took their first trip back to Russia after becoming citizens of the USA they were so glad when they flew back into the USA from Russia that they kissed the ground.

 

These are some of the patriotic things we have around the house and make special displays with during 4th of July celebrations. The couple on the bottom of the collage are Martha and George Washington. Dear’s grandmother Nettie gave them to us on one of our trips to visit her in Illinois. The rest are self-explanatory. The next photo is of Dear’s dad who served in WWII.

 

Rex Roy B. (February 19, 1917 – October 5, 1985) served his country in New Guinea during WWII

We plan to have friends and family over for food and fun on the 4th. Hope you all have some fun planned, too.

For more proud flag waving posts head over to Kari and Kijsa’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

The Wedding ~ Tim and Jessica

What a wonderful ceremony and reception to celebrate the marriage of my nephew Tim to his beautiful bride Jessica.

 

My Grand Nephew Jackson was the Ring Bearer and he was perfect!

 

He walked carefully and looked oh so like a little prince.

 

Jessica was a stunning Bride.

 

The Groom, my nephew Tim, with his brothers and family. Tim is the one on the left in the upper photo. That’s his brother Levi with him. My brother Steve’s family is excited to finally have another woman in the group. The boys are happy to have a sister.

 

So much fun to see all the cousins together having a good time.

The Sisters, Vera, Lana, Ellen, and Kathy

 

The happy newlyweds. My nephew Tim…if he thinks he needs a drink now, just wait! No worries that’s only Martinelli’s and he really didn’t seemed stressed with all the excitement around him.

My married kids! Hard to believe they’ve almost been married 7 years!

 

My parents, Tim’s paternal grandparents at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. See that last photo of my dad hugging Tim and Jessica, he decided it was time to take my mom home because she was tired so he walked right up to Tim and Jessica while they were having their first dance to give them a kiss and hug goodbye. He doesn’t really understand the concept of the first dance, since none of his children danced at their weddings. It was a kodak moment and all of us kids were belly laughing. Such a Moisi moment!!

 

Here’s my extended family minus 10 who were not at the wedding.

At the end of such a long eventful day we were all ready to go to sleep just like our Princess Hope.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Pelemeny ~ Russian Ravioli

Pelemeny (Russian Version of Ravioli)

Filling:

1/2 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. ground veal, or lamb, or beef
1 medium onion grated
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Dough:

2 cups sifted flour
1 egg
1/3 cup water

Combine the two meats with onion. Add seasonings to taste and mix well and set aside.

Prepare Dough: In a small mixing bowl, sift the flour and a pinch of salt. Make a nest in the flour, add the egg which has been mixed with water. Work the flour into the egg and mix and then knead to a rather dry dough. Use more or less flour as needed. Roll dough very thin. We used a pelemeny mold/maker that my mom brought back on one of her trips to Russia so the pelemeny come out in a round shape. If you don’t have a mold cut the dough into 2″ circles. Put a small ball of filling (about 1/2 tsp) onto each circle and fold over and pinch edges making a half-moon shape. Then pinch each corner up together.

Boil in your choice of broth. Add the Pelemeny to the boiling broth. When they are done they will surface like doughnuts. You can serve them with the broth like a soup or you can have them plain with some sour cream. This recipe should feed 4-6 people.

The photo collages that I have shown are of my family making a huge batch of these for a family gathering we’re having. We made 648 of these.

It is very important to flour this mold really well each time you put the dough on to fill.

We found that a plastic teaspoon worked best to press the meat into each little hole.

You have to shake the completed Pelemeny out of the mold.

You can serve these with a lot of broth like a soup or just plain with sourcream.

Some people enjoy them with soy sauce.

Enjoy!

Pishky ~ Russian Fry Bread

I’m posting two versions of my mother Nadia’s Pishky that my family grew up with. Mennonites call them Rollkuchen. There are some variations in the ingredients. I’m gathering more of our family heritage recipes on my blog.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 3 eggs (beaten)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • vegetable oil to fry the Pishky in

Method:

  1. Make well in center of flour. Mix sour cream, beaten eggs, salt, sugar, and orange juice.
  2.  First blend the soda in a tablespoon of hot water then add it to the wet ingredients. Mix into flour and knead the dough.
  3.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Cut in strips. Then cut strips on the diagonal about 4″ long and cut a slit in the center of the 4″ length.
  4. Fold the top of the piece through the hole and up again. Fry in oil until golden brown on both sides.
  5.  Before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar.

My kids loved to have these hot out of the pan when they would come in from playing in the snow.

These are great right out of the pan and for a few hours but after that, they aren’t as wonderful. Make small batches that you’ll gobble up quickly is my recommendation. The other thing you can do if you have more than you want to eat right away is to make a french toast casserole for breakfast with the leftovers.

This recipe is still easy to make and a nice treat similar to Rollkuchen.
I made a small batch using the following recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups sifted flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 cup powdered sugar (frosting sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon soft butter
  • 1/2 tablespoon brandy
  • 2 eggs
  • vegetable oil for frying
  • powered sugar for dusting

Method:

  1. Sift flour, sugar and salt together. Cut in butter.
  2. Beat eggs and brandy together well.
  3. Add egg mixture to flour and mix well. Knead thoroughly.
  4. Divide into two portions keeping one portion covered while working on the first portion.
  5. Roll out thin.
  6. Cut strips approx. 2 inches wide and 3 inches long.
  7. Make a slit in the middle of each strip, pulling one end through the slit.
  8. Continue with the second portion and following the same steps.
  9. Fry in hot vegetable oil turning until both sides are light brown.
  10. Drain on paper towels.
  11. Dust with powdered sugar.

Yield: 20 Pishkey

 

Hymn for Father’s Day

Happy the Home When God is There

words by Henry Ware, Jr. (1794-1843)

Happy the home when God is there,
And love fills every breast;
When one their wish, and one their prayer,
And one their heav’nly rest.

Happy the home where Jesus’ Name
Is sweet to every ear;
Where children early speak His fame,
And parents hold Him dear.

Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise each day does rise;
Where parents love the sacred Word
And all its wisdom prize.

Lord, let us in our homes agree
This blessèd peace to gain;
Unite our hearts in love to Thee,
And love to all will reign.

The top photo is my Father praying at a family gathering. Happy Father’s Day Pop! My parents have always had a deep love and respect for God’s Word.

Happy Father’s Day Dear! Thank you for being a great Father to our children and a man of integrity who honors God’s Word.

The newest Father in our family, my brother Leonard. Happy 1st Father’s Day, Leonard. We love watching you as a Father to the Princess.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Photo Hunters ~ Emotion

 

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy. These are the 4 Bagdanov Sisters. Not the best quality photo but it is full of emotion!

For more Photos on the Emotion theme head over to Tnchick’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

The Bridal Shower

My extended family came together to host a bridal shower for our future niece, cousin, granddaughter. June 28th is the wedding day. I put together some photos from the event. Good food, Fellowship, and blessings all around. A lovely colorful afternoon.

 

Can you guess the color scheme we chose for the shower? Yep, lavender, green, and cream.

 

I’m happy to say the fondant cake turned out and if the fondant had been fresher (confession time: I had this box of fondant in my cupboard for over a year) it would have been easier to work with and a lot more pliable. I will try fondant again, fresh fondant.

 

We had savory blintzes filled with chicken and broccoli, tabbouleh, fruit salad, Italian Wedding cookies, and Kefili cookies filled with apricot and plum jam. My mom made the cookies. The Kefili are one of her russian recipes. Growing up we had a great Italian friend living across the street, Lucille. She always made these Italian wedding cookies for showers and weddings. My mom hunted down her recipe to make them for this shower.

 

Jessica ~ Jessica and her mom, Connie ~ Jessica with Kelly (my Sil) and Kelly’s mom, Lynn ~ Jessica with my mother.

 

My niece Michelle getting the Mojito Punch ready. We love details, so my niece Melissa made ice-cubes with mint in them. That’s my niece Debbee in the kitchen. Sadly the Mojito Punch was virgin (no rum), but it was very good and refreshing.

Speaking of nieces, here they are ~ Jessica, Michelle, Debbee, and Melissa.

 

Details, details, we placed sprigs of lavender on each of the blintzes.

 

My sister Kathy had these great vintage snack trays that we used for the food.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this photo of my mom.

The shower was wonderful. We ended up making each other cry (a good cry). Don’t you think that sometimes if there are tears that are shed we are being real with each other? We thanked God and prayed for Jessica and Tim and prayed for all of us. We wanted to give God the honor for all He has done for our family and friends.

I was exhausted but happy that everything came together well. I had left my condo at 9:30 am and returned at 8:30 pm. 181 miles round-trip. Today I’m a little brain dead. I hope to get around and see what you are all up to sometime today after I empty my trunk and put everything away…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Fun Monday ~ Happy Childhood Memory

Molly is hosting Fun Monday this week. She says…

I have the great honor of hosting Fun Monday this coming Monday, June 9th. For your assignment tell us about a happy memory from your childhood. If you have pictures, please show us your pictures.

 

When I was little the cousins would all pile into one car and head up to Big Bear, California or another mountain destination and camp. I’m the one sitting on the table. These were happy childhood memories.

On the bench in front: Valia my cousin, my sister Vera, my cousin Walter, my cousin Alex, me on the table, across the table on the bench- my Uncle Paul, my Father, my brother Fred, my sister Kathy standing on the bench. Behind the bench – Mrs. Dorofeiv, Mike Dorofeiv and their child.

 

Here I am with my father who loved to put jigsaw puzzles together. My sister Kathy is standing behind my dad and me. These days my favorite kind of camping is at the Hilton but I know that the best memories for our kids are the real camping experiences out in the great outdoors. I wish I would have taken my kids on more camping excursions…

 

This is my cousin Valia and me. We spent lots of time with each other while I was growing up. My maternal grandmother lived with them so we were over there a lot. This photo was taken at Easter.

Here’s that same cousin with her daughter and granddaughter. I got to see her this last Saturday at a baby shower for her DIL. One of our projects while at the shower was to create something on a onesie for the baby that’s due in July. Yikes I’m not really artistic or crafty but here is what I came up with. Good thing babies wear onesies under their regular outer wear!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

For more Fun Monday Happy Memories visit Molly.